"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Kindness is something that doesn't get much attention in Christian discussions. I'm not sure why this is the case. When we look at the life of Jesus Christ, we see the kindest man who ever lived. When Jesus dealt with the poor and needy, he kindly took care of their needs and proclaimed the Kingdom. When Jesus confronted the religious leaders, he spoke the truth to them that they needed to hear (the leaders did not view this as kind, but Jesus did have their best interests in mind). During the three years with his disciples, Jesus taught and showed them more than they ever could have imagined.
We see in the above passage from Galatians that kindness is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, if we are in the Spirit, we will display kindness in our lives. This should be a natural outflowing of a life transformed by Christ.
When I meet someone for the first time, the signal that they are a Christian is usually their kindness. I don't ask them their theological positions. Rather, I see a nice person who is looking out for the needs of others. I see someone who listens. I see a person who puts other people before self.
Just because a person is kind does not mean that he is a Christian. We've all met kind unbelievers. However, it is a good clue.
I'm not suggesting that we take part in some sort of random-acts-of-kindness nonsense. Rather, we should take a look at our own hearts. Are we truly kind people?
The church would be much more positive in nature if we would all focus on being kind to one another. The world would also take notice if we'd be kinder to them.
I don't mean for this post to seem sappy. Rather, I'm pointing directly to what our lives look like. Do they match up with what we read in Galatians 5:22-23? When others look at us, do they see kindness?
Kindness is something that doesn't get much attention in Christian discussions. I'm not sure why this is the case. When we look at the life of Jesus Christ, we see the kindest man who ever lived. When Jesus dealt with the poor and needy, he kindly took care of their needs and proclaimed the Kingdom. When Jesus confronted the religious leaders, he spoke the truth to them that they needed to hear (the leaders did not view this as kind, but Jesus did have their best interests in mind). During the three years with his disciples, Jesus taught and showed them more than they ever could have imagined.
We see in the above passage from Galatians that kindness is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, if we are in the Spirit, we will display kindness in our lives. This should be a natural outflowing of a life transformed by Christ.
When I meet someone for the first time, the signal that they are a Christian is usually their kindness. I don't ask them their theological positions. Rather, I see a nice person who is looking out for the needs of others. I see someone who listens. I see a person who puts other people before self.
Just because a person is kind does not mean that he is a Christian. We've all met kind unbelievers. However, it is a good clue.
I'm not suggesting that we take part in some sort of random-acts-of-kindness nonsense. Rather, we should take a look at our own hearts. Are we truly kind people?
The church would be much more positive in nature if we would all focus on being kind to one another. The world would also take notice if we'd be kinder to them.
I don't mean for this post to seem sappy. Rather, I'm pointing directly to what our lives look like. Do they match up with what we read in Galatians 5:22-23? When others look at us, do they see kindness?
1 comment:
that's true - nobody ever talks about kindness!
Except with our children...I guess kindness is really only applicable to children. So we can't SHOW our children how to be kind or tell them what it looks like for adults... cuz it's only applicable to kids, really. share, don't talk negative about others, take turns. etc.
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